55 Shares

Share

Call it the Cronut Effect: People are once again jazzed about doughnuts, and just after East Coast chainlet the Fractured Prune announced it would open across the country, Krispy Kreme is apparently also prepping a big comeback. Businessweek reports that corporate plans to open 157 new locations in the U.S. by 2017, and its glazed renaissance will focus on retail shops with a much smaller footprint. The chain (admirably) tosses its yeasted doughnuts after their two-day shelf life is up, a fact that has always helped out in the flavor department but traditionally meant a whole lot of waste for the company to absorb, so the new strategy is designed to cut overhead and more. The Kreme's expansion will also focus on international markets: Russia's first opened yesterday, and the 200-strong line that formed almost a full day before the store's official opening seems to prove Putin wrong: We are exceptional. [Businessweek, WP, Earlier, Related]